Daniel Bryan Speaks About His WrestleMania Match With Sheamus

GQ has a new Q&A online with Daniel Bryan in which Bryan discusses his Wrestlemania match with Sheamus. Below is an excerpt:

GQ: Do you have any ideas as to why it’s happening right now?

Daniel Bryan: Especially last week in Miami, I feel like part of it was a backlash against how short my match at Wrestlemania was. A lot of it is that people like to boo me, but they kind of like me. They don’t want bad things to happen to me, like an 18-second loss at Wrestlemania, especially the hardcore fans, which is mostly who comes for Wrestlemania. People come from all over the world. They travel to Wrestlemania, and a lot of those people know my story, how long it took me to get a Wrestlemania match. And then for my first one to be an 18-second loss, it actually generated a lot of anger.

GQ: Do you share that anger?

Daniel Bryan: Of course I do. I was World Heavyweight Champion for four months. I wanted to go out there and steal the show. I was trained by Shawn Michaels, and that’s what he’s notorious for. I’ve always had the mindset that my wrestling is as good as or better than anybody out there. I was really looking forward to going out there and showing everybody what I can do on the biggest stage of them all, and then I just wasn’t able to do it.

GQ: What was the conversation like when you were told that the match was going to go down like this?

Daniel Bryan: I mean, there wasn’t much of a conversation. This is my job, you know? You have to do something, and even if you don’t like it, that’s what you do. But you go out there and do the best that you can. I went out and did the best entrance I could possibly do. You just do your best; that’s all anybody can do.

GQ: There have been moments where WWE has been notorious for not doing what its audience wants. But with all the chants for you and how much you’ve been catching on since Wrestlemania, it seems like the company wouldn’t be able to ignore that.

Daniel Bryan: Well, for example, [this week] I wasn’t on Raw. There were loads of “Yes!” signs in the crowd, but I wasn’t on Raw. There’s always a lot of things that go into that; it was a hectic show. But yeah, there’s some stuff like that that happens.

GQ: Moving forward, what would you like to be doing?

Daniel Bryan: I would like to have a more aggressive side to my character. Losing the World Heavyweight Championship in 18 seconds, storyline or not, is going to anger somebody. If you’ve been champion for four months and you lose it in 18 seconds on what’s kind of a cheap shot, you’re going to be a little bit angry. I’d like to amp up the more aggressive side of my character in that sense. But as far as what happens from here, who knows? I’m hoping that the fans keep getting behind me. Even if they do the “Yes!” chant in a mocking sense, I want them to see me in the same light that they’ve seen me before, as one of the main event guys on Smackdown.